Personal Statement...

When working with wood I try to keep my making process as fluent and spontaneous as possible. I start out with an idea, be it chair, cradle or sculpture, and select pieces of timber which seem suitable. From that point the making is a conversation between my initial vision and the wood. I hunt for shapes and hues that will complement each other, I seek a curved branch for the curved leg of a chair.

Sometimes the mark of the tool is important, the obvious dowel, or the unusual joint, as these things reveal what the wood has undergone to become the finished object. Irregularities are an inspiration, they throw up practical questions solved in unexpected ways.

The making progresses through endless re evaluations, as bulbous deformities and crooked branches come together. Thus the final object grows from my first thoughts in a very organic way.